A not so little storm erupted on Facebook and Twitter when Texans recently learned the latest news from our Governor. Needless to say, Texas progressives and moderates alike expressed outrage as well as some of the best of mockery and lampoonery around. (I had a little help with the title of this blogpost.) One has to develop a pretty keen sense of humor when surrounded by the Texas Taliban and Tea Party RWNJs. That and we have our own homegrown versions of #YallQaeda #YeeHadists and #VanillaISIS lurking in the not so distant background. Humor and activism is our survival kit.
The Governor of Texas must be very bored. Texas is, after all, a small government state in which the legislature meets only every other year. So maybe there isn’t much for a Governor to do in off legislative years except to listen to right wing talk radio. That or interfere with municipal government bans and ordinances, only as an authoritarian leader would.
Or perhaps Governor Abbott is trying to find a way to distract us from the fact that the state he governs is home to the sickest and highest number of uninsured residents. One reason we are in this dire circumstance is because our stubborn Governor refuses to implement federally expanded Medicare, mostly because he doesn’t like the duly elected black guy in the White House.
And let’s not forget when Obamacare (the Affordable Healthcare Act) did kick in, despite Senator Ted Cruz and his federal government shut down in 2013, Texas Republicans made it as tough as possible for Texans to enroll in health insurance plans.
The Texas Republican Party can be a very nasty and spiteful bunch. It is probably angry because Obamacare is actually helping Texans who could not previously qualify for or afford to purchase health care insurance. Oh and Republican lawmakers are not concerned about seeming heartless or cruel. Those they define as “undeserving others” merit cruelty and contempt.
The Governor also likely hopes we failed to notice that the states’ schools received a C- grade and rank 39th in the nation. Undoubtedly we should forget, too, that conservative members of the State Board of Education tried to redefine slaves as “workers” in the state’s recently published Texas history textbook. Fortunately an astute parent in the Houston area noticed the white washing. The book publisher tucked its tail between its legs and promised to republish the textbook with an accurate instead of a white washed version of history.
Nice try, Texas Taliban. Moms who know better are not going to let you dumb down their kids.
So while we get it that our Governor would like to change conversations and hope that we fail to remember the state of healthcare and education here, his latest stunt has certainly confounded many of us, including some rather stunned Republicans.
Greg Abbott has proposed a constitutional convention in order to limit federal power over the states.
Greg Abbott and many among the Texas GOP are furious that the big ol’ mean black President and the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. They are also outraged that Obamacare became the law, thereby making affordable and accessible health insurance coverage possible for over 22 million people.
Moreover, Texas Republicans are also infuriated because the EPA has the nerve to step in so as to prevent us from poisoning ourselves to death or from getting killed in extreme weather events.
But apparently the straw that broke the already braying mule’s back is the President’s recent Executive Action on guns. Mr. Obama made it a little bit tougher for crazed gunmen to mow down first graders in their schools’ classrooms. But somehow the President’s heinous gesture interferes with our Second Amendment right to shoot whomever we want, whenever we please, for whatever reason, at least according to some on the far right. As well as those who are joined at the wallet with the NRA and gun lobbies.
Speaking of which Texas is currently grappling with the recently implemented open carry law that few of us want, whether business owners or patrons. But we’re stuck with it thanks to Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s willing indentured servitude to the NRA and the big bad boy gun club with physical insecurities.
So the Governor wants to hold his state’s right constitutional convention, along with some support from his Party’s Presidential candidates. Surely all are desperate to steal some of the spotlight and microphone away from the Party’s leading candidate, Donald Trump.
But not everyone thinks a constitutional convention is a good idea. This includes some Republicans.
Petulance is not a workable solution.
But the idea has drawn opposition from some Republicans as well as Democrats, including in Texas.
When the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee considered a constitutional-convention proposal last year, Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, was blunt.
“I understand that there are people out here that are upset with the federal government, I think many of us are," Estes said.
However, Estes said, the idea of rewriting the Constitution "is like a petulant teenager who's lost a few basketball games that plans to burn down the gymnasium. This is like a person that has found rats in their house and decides to solve the problem with dynamite.”
Indeed. This is pretty much the kind of behavior that’s been running this state since G.W. Bush served as its Governor. But Greg Abbott brings the RWNJ animal house to a whole new level. He brought the TNT and he intends to play with it.
Civil liberties, labor and Democratic groups were aghast at Abbott's proposal, with some suggesting it's nothing more than political posturing.
Citing state needs in areas including health insurance coverage and education, Texas Democratic Party Deputy Executive Director Manny Garcia said, "Texas families deserve serious solutions, not Tea Party nonsense."
"Don't mess with the Constitution," said Terri Burke, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
Texas AFL-CIO President John Patrick said, "The notion that Texas, which has what may be the most unwieldy constitution ever put forth by mankind, is provoking a movement to amend the federal Constitution would be laughable if it wasn't so dangerous.”
Forget about expanding Medicaid and strengthening and improving our public schools. The circus has already begun and it will be around until voters vote and run it out on a rail.
Nothing will change until we vote the current members of the petulant party out of office. For this time its circus acts include playing with explosives.
Get involved. Join an area Democratic club or volunteer for your county’s Democratic headquarters. I volunteer for the Harris Co. (Houston area) Democratic Party. It’s amazing how we can help our members with important information, especially during election seasons. Texas does not make it easy to vote, whether it’s getting the proper documentation for a photo ID, obtaining mail in ballots for seniors or finding one’s early voting and precinct poll.
Which is one more reason why we absolutely must elect Democratic county clerks in as many of our large urban areas as possible.
Some of our party’s seniors in Houston refuse to vote by mail because they are convinced the Republican county clerk will not count their ballots. I am not kidding. This is highly unlikely but the lack of trust is obvious and understandable.
Thanks to then Attorney General Greg Abbott, Texas implemented the most stringent Jim Crow Voter ID law in the U.S. Abbott’s tyrannical law disenfranchised over 600,000 registered voters in 2014. Far too many Texans could not vote because they did not have the means or documentation necessary to obtain a photo ID. Hopefully the SCOTUS will overturn this undemocratic law, the sooner the better.
If neither a club nor party headquarters exist in your area, you might volunteer on behalf of a candidate who runs against a GOP/Tea Party incumbent. Make phone calls, Knock on doors. Talk to your neighbors. Donate if you can. Become a deputy voter registrar for your county and register as many voters as you can. In the end it all comes down to getting out the vote.
I don’t care if a candidate is a Socialist, Democrat, Green or Independent. Any party or group is far more credible than the Republican and Libertarian parties as both exist today.
Well, except for right wing parties, such as fascists and Christo-fascists i.e. the Trump and Cruz wings of the GOP.
Let’s get to work. The stakes are pretty damned high.
Update: I just learned that our pandering Governor is trying to punch is way onto the national scene. What a self-serving jerk.